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Messer: Another decision coming on streetcar

By Ryan Messer
6:41 a.m. EDT July 15, 2014

“While I’m steadfast ... that we must ensure phase one is a success before we start construction to Uptown, I also strongly believe that the time to begin the conversation about what might lie ahead is today,” Ryan Messer says.
(Photo:
The Enquirer/Liz Dufour
)

Ryan Messer led last fall's grass-roots Believe in Cincinnati movement that succeeded in getting streetcar construction restarted. The Johnson & Johnson sales executive also was recently elected president of the Over-the-Rhine Community Council.

A year ago today, Cincinnati broke ground on the much-debated streetcar project. That day, I had my head down at work – keeping busy with my day-to-day life, like most citizens. None of us could have imagined what lay ahead and what it was going to take to keep this project from going the way of the abandoned Cincinnati subway.

I knew there was an upcoming election that could have an effect on the project. I was a streetcar supporter and often had shared my opinion when the topic came up. Maybe I should have been more engaged since I was personally invested, rehabbing a vacant building in Over-the-Rhine after the second streetcar referendum passed.

But it seemed impossible that the project would be canceled once construction was underway. I was wrong. On Nov. 5, when residents elected a City Council majority and mayor opposed to the streetcar, the threat became very real to me. That fact inspired me and countless others to become engaged actively in the political and civic life of our our city. It was a wake-up call.

We heeded the call and in the process learned that everyday citizens truly can make a difference in our city. As I sat in City Council chambers during the debate and witnessed hundreds of supporters sacrificing days on end to speak, I wondered how many were, like me, there for the first time in their lives.

Now we're seeing the spread of grass-roots efforts across other neighborhoods – not just Over-the-Rhine and Downtown – as citizens explore what transit could mean to their futures. These conversations will continue to grow as we get closer to opening the first phase of our streetcar system. The plain fact is, cities that build streetcars and other forms of fixed-rail transit experience dramatic development along the routes.

I have every hope that the sense of engagement people developed in the streetcar fight will translate into engagement on other issues. When the passion and energy of everyday people is brought into the political process, cities and neighborhoods improve.

The natural progression of our streetcar debate is whether it should go "up the hill." While I'm steadfast in my belief that we must ensure phase one is a success before we start construction to Uptown, I also strongly believe that the time to begin the conversation about what might lie ahead is today.

It's a "Catch-22." If you don't have a plan, you can't ask for funding. And if you don't have funding, naysayers will say the conversation shouldn't continue. It's important to realize that the investment we are making in our current streetcar project will continue to be at risk until we've developed a well-vetted plan to extend the system to Uptown and beyond.

It doesn't matter which side of the debate you were on, a streetcar will be rolling on the tracks. Now we must maximize this investment, using it to attract jobs to neighborhoods as well as Downtown.

One question remains: What Cincinnati will the streetcar meet on opening day? Will it find a Cincinnati that continues to remain deeply divided, with some rooting for its failure? Or will it find a city united in its determination to use the streetcar to catapult the city and region onto the national stage?

Given the way an increasing number of Cincinnatians have embraced the streetcar in the past year, I'm optimistic we will choose the right path. ■